


Salt Series

by ChaoticNeutral



Series: Tumblr Works [10]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Chameleon Salt, Consequences, F/M, Lila salt, Miraculous Salt Fic, Realization, ml salt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-19
Updated: 2020-03-24
Packaged: 2020-10-21 07:47:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20689988
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChaoticNeutral/pseuds/ChaoticNeutral
Summary: Marinette may be the one Lila declared herself at “war” with, but she’s not the only victim. Or even the one who would be the worst off for it if things continued. After all, more than one person would be suffering from the toxicity.In which Lila can be outed any number of ways, there are real results of Lila’s manipulations, and people besides Marinette have to deal with consequences of poor choices.





	1. Nino

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lila’s made a lot of promises. Sooner or later, someone is bound to expect her to follow through.

* * *

The thing about making false promises was that sooner or later, people would expect them to be followed through on.

When Nino first met Lila, she had told him all sorts of amazing things about her adventures around the world. The places she had seen. The people she had met.

She keyed in on his desire to make movies and assured him that she could get him in touch with a major Hollywood movie director. And all throughout her time as part of their class, he had been holding onto that promise. 

Even when Marinette tried to warn him.

Even when Lila had him push Adrien to help her.

Even when things just…didn’t add up.

He still believed in her.

Everyone else had. Alya certainly had, and she was the journalist. Surely if anyone would have known her claims were false, it would have been her. And the clincher was that despite Marinette’s insistence on what she had seen Lila do, Adrien had never spoken up about it. And of course his bro would have told him. Adrien would never leave him in the lurch like that.

If Marinette was right, Adrien would have confirmed her story or at least have said something to Nino about Lila when he asked Adrien to help out on her behalf. Because he’d never put his best friend in that sort of position and of course Adrien would never let Nino be played.

So he also chose to believe in Lila’s word.

Because why would she lie? Why even lie about something like that?

So Nino stayed the cool friend he was. Helping Lila when she needed it. Trusting her when she told him things. And waiting patiently on the promise she had made that could move his dream forward.

Which was why he’d worked so hard. Not just with his music, but with his movies. His directing. Building and buying better equipment. Writing up better scripts. And when a competition for Young Filmmakers came up, he knew he had to enter.

“You’ll do great!” Alya assured him.

“Yeah, you should give it a try!” Adrien agreed.

“It’ll be a great opportunity!” Marinette encouraged, actually hanging out with them for once. He had missed hanging out with her, since she stopped sticking around as much given the tense situation with Lila. But to be fair, Nino had mostly stayed out of it altogether since he had been so busy.

They even helped him out after that. Acting the parts. Making sets. Marinette made costumes for him and even got him to coordinate with Marc on a good script. Everyone had been on board and encouraging him, and he couldn’t have asked for better friends.

Everything had been going so well. He had his entry for the competition almost completed.

And then the news had arrived about that director—the very one Lila had promised to introduce him to. The one who could give him a step up in film-making. He was coming to Paris to look over locations for a new big-budget picture.

This was…

This was it! This was the time! This was the opportunity of a lifetime! He could hold onto the film and show him! He would never get another chance like this! And Lila had promised him an in! How could he not take it?

The others agreed with him.

“You should see if you can’t talk to him!” Alya insisted.

Nino grinned before turning to the other two in the group and asking them what they thought.

Adrien…almost seemed to wince. “You don’t know unless you try, right?”

Marinette though…

“I’m not sure you should bank on that.” She told him. “If he’s here on business, he may not have a lot of free time to meet.”

Nino frowned at that. That was true. But Lila had promised…

She continued. “You should follow through on the Film Competition. You’ve already put so much into it and your entry is almost ready. It wouldn’t hurt to have it done and sent in just in case things don’t work out.”

Alya gave the other girl a dry look, getting annoyed. “Are you really saying Nino should just give up on this?”

“What—no! I’m just…” Marinette stammered, clearly panicking. “I’m just saying we never know what will happen and it’s good to have a backup plan, right?”

“That might be a good idea.” Adrien reasoned.

“Are you just saying that because it’s Lila who’ll be helping him?” Alya demanded.

“Lila can’t promise something like that!” Marinette tried to explain. “Even if she knows him—”

“IF! IF, you say! So it IS about Lila!”

Things had quickly devolved into an argument after that. With Alya defending Nino and Lila while whatever point Marinette tried to make ended up lost in the midst of Alya’s anger, Nino’s frustration, and her own anxiety. She at most got out a few statements about proper networking, but those were brushed aside. Networking for fashion wasn’t the same as networking for directing. And besides, they had Lila as a point of contact.

Nino just couldn’t believe she would try to talk him out of an opportunity like this.

“Just ignore her.” Alya reassured him once they had enough and left. “If she wants to lose out on any opportunity Lila could help her with thanks to her jealousy, that’s on her, but that doesn’t mean you have to.”

So he agreed and decided to talk to Lila about it the next chance he got. And sure enough, the next day he approached Lila to discuss the matter. She actually seemed surprised to the news of the director being in Paris. And when he asked her about seeing if she couldn’t use her connections to get him a meeting, she looked nervous.

“I’ll have to check and see.”

Except things kept happening.

At first it was Lila telling him how busy the director was and that he didn’t have any time in his schedule that week to talk to her.

Then she told him she was meeting with the director and would try to drop Nino’s name and number. He waited anxiously for the rest of the week on a call that never came.

The third week, Lila herself was suddenly making herself scarce. She was showing up late for classes and leaving right when the class ended so Nino didn’t have a chance to talk to her.

Getting increasingly frustrated and anxious, he started making a point to wait for her or try to catch her and force a conversation. But each time, she would try to avoid speaking with him.

And then she was suddenly unavailable at all. Apparently she had left for another “charity trip” of some sort, according to Rose.

Nino was getting frantic as the final days of the director’s time in Paris approached. Attempts to call Lila only got her voicemail. Alya even tried, similarly confused and frustrated on his behalf.

By the time it finally hit him that this wasn’t happening…that the promise wasn’t going to be kept, the director was on a flight back to Hollywood. And the entry deadline for the film competition had already passed.

He was…downright devastated.

He’d believed Lila. Believed IN Lila. But it was like she hadn’t even tried.

And when she reappeared in class the next week, boasting about her latest trip without even meeting Nino’s eyes, he realized that she hadn’t.

She had lied to him. Whether it was about knowing the director, about introducing him, or about her attempts to follow through—she lied about any or all of them. And because of that…

He lost an opportunity he only just realized he’d never really had.

He lost an opportunity that he DID have and chose to waste time chasing an illusion.

He never finished his film entry. Just…left it sitting in the media room at the school.

And then to make matters worse…when he had vented to Adrien about the matter, the blond had let something slip. The wrong way to say it. The wrong thing to say. The wrong time.

“If I’d known her lies would do this…”

If he’d known her lies would do this…

That said he hadn’t realized what her lies could do.

_Not that he didn’t know she was lying!_

The confrontation that happened after that was long and completely one-sided. To say Nino was furious was an understatement. Adrien couldn’t even defend himself. He didn’t even try. And how could he?

He’d known.

He’d known all along.

And Adrien had…his _best friend_ had just let him be played for a fool!

They had been lucky that Ladybug had been nearby to catch the akuma before it got to him. That was quite honestly the last thing he needed at this point.

What he needed was time to mourn the lost chances. And time away from liars and traitorous best friends.

He and Adrien still haven’t spoken, though it wasn’t for lack of trying on Adrien’s part. He just couldn’t stand for people to be mad at him and didn’t know how to handle it. But Nino needed time to be angry. Maybe at some point he could forgive Adrien for his part in this. But it wasn’t anytime soon.

Alya was supportive through everything. Though she was kicking herself just as much for letting things go this far. And the way that this had come between her and her own friendship with Marinette. They still hadn’t spoken since that last argument. Marinette wouldn’t approach them and Alya didn’t know how to apologize.

The rest of the class was conflicted. They knew something was up but not necessarily what.

Marinette stayed quiet. Not talking to any of them, but appearing just as sad over the whole mess. If there was one good thing about this, it was that Marinette hadn’t taken the opportunity to throw it in their faces and say “I told you so.”

Though she would have been well in her rights to.

Nino spent the next week and a half in a funk. Just…trying to deal. With the knowledge of the lies. With the lost opportunities. With the loss of friendships.

It took time—more than he would have wanted and less than he probably deserved—but he was ready to move forward.

This is just a misstep. He lost a chance he didn’t reach for. He can try again. There will be other opportunities, after all. Other contests. Other directors.

And next time, he would do it on his own merit. A little older. A little wiser.

Except…

Next time came the day after this sudden revelation. When a package he hadn’t been expecting arrived at his home.

Inside was a signed certificate from the Young Filmmakers Competition. An honorable mention, along with a detailed critique of his project.

_Inspiring._

_Very well made._

_The costumes were gorgeous and on point._

_The acting was astounding for those so young and inexperienced._

_The script was moving._

_It just seems unfinished._

_Some more editing and clean up would have put this in the top three._

_Perhaps you can make a more completed product for the next competition later in the year?_

It had…

It was his…

How…?

He looked over the rest of the paperwork—the paperwork with the entry information he knew he hadn’t filled out.

But it was all there.

With his name.

In a very familiar…rather _distinct _penmanship.

Nino laughed, even as his eyes filled with tears.

Some friendships were stronger than you’d think. And more than worth acting for.

Marinette could give Adrien some lessons on that.


	2. Alya

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alya’s turn. She has a lot riding on this, after all. And surely other journalists would be looking over the Ladyblog.

* * *

Alya was excited. She had been looking forward to this web seminar on journalism for weeks now. After all her efforts, she had finally managed to score access to the live lecture being run by Victoria Berger, one of her role models in the field! It had taken quite a bit of effort and she still owed Marinette her soul and a date with Adrien for using her connection to Nadja to get this chance, but it was worth it! It didn’t matter that it was the middle of the day and she should be in class right now. She wasn’t going to miss an opportunity like this.

By the time she had managed to sneak away to a quiet unused club room and get the laptop set up, the lecture had already started. Luckily, she hadn’t missed too much. There was Victoria already at the stand and beginning her lecture for those who were able to attend in person. Lucky! Maybe someday Alya would be able to get there.

She grinned. She could already see it now.

_“But there is one thing that can make or break any reporter.”_

Alya felt her skin tingle in excitement, pen at the ready to take notes.

_“Facts.”_ The speaker stated, continuing her lecture. _“You need to have facts and information that can be verified. It’s a form of science of its own, if you think about it. Much like any scientific experiment, it has to have two things—reliability and validity. Is the information you are trying to share valid—is it true? And is the information reliable—can other people investigating the subject get the same information and come to same conclusion?”_

How true! She nodded, jotting the notes. But of course, she knew all this already. That was why she was already so successful.

_“These two things are vital, and make all the difference between your work being a legitimate news source such as Le Monde or Le Figaro…or a tabloid like the Ladyblog.”_

What?

Alya froze as a tightness started in her throat.

She had to have heard that wrong.

It was an open forum, so viewers were allowed to ask questions. And naturally, one such question came up asking for clarification on this statement about the Ladyblog. Alya felt some relief that it didn’t have to be her—that someone else clearly thought highly enough of her blog to question the statement. Because…she did such great work! How could her own idol see her blog as a _tabloid?_

_“Misinformation is actually more dangerous than people not getting information in the first place. Thanks to the Internet, misinformation is much more common, and reports such as the Ladyblog can spread false information with widespread consequences before accurate information can be made available.”_

Wait—consequences?

_“Due to reports from the Ladyblog, there have been at least three separate instances requiring documented increased police presence around the François-Dupont school.”_

Wait—police? Alya gasped, feeling her stomach drop at that. But…she hadn’t noticed anything…

_“The first, was when the admin of the blog accused one Chloe Bourgeois of being the city’s resident super hero. However, this was disregarding previous and well known footage of the superhero in question rescuing that very victim in the first attack. Something that was widely available, and should have been checked first before making such a claim. Rather than do so, the blogger instead chose to violate boundaries of a private citizen’s for information that was already available.”_

But…that had been Chloe. And she had been suspended unfairly over it. The truth had come out in the end anyway, hadn’t it?

_“The second was when the blogger made the claim that the hero might be a student at the school. This was based entirely on circumstantial evidence of a book that was obtained during an active crisis. By all counts, the book could’ve belonged to anyone and ladybug might have simply been returning it, and by taking it to use for information rather than try to return it, what the young lady did was legally theft. Perhaps even blackmail.”_

That…that was just journalism! She had been seeking the truth. It…wouldn’t have really caused legal trouble, would it?

_“Both of these instances involved the blogger violating privacy and ethics in order to find information that at best would be considered circumstantial and far from accurate. In order to get the information she wanted, she jumped to conclusions, went to extreme lengths, and ignored risks not only to the validity of the information she was trying to seek, but the people it could hurt, and even her own life.”_

It hadn’t hurt anyone, though! It wasn’t like anything could have happened!

_“What if she did find out Ladybug’s identity? People would then know who to accost. This would open up our hero to threats, violence, and harm not only from the very villain she has been attempting to protect us all from, but even criminals and regular civilians looking to gain something from it. She could have been attacked by anyone seeking this ‘Miraculous’ of hers for themselves, and then not only would a young woman be grievously injured over an avoidable matter, but the city would be down a hero—if not gain another supervillain in the process. There are risks to what we do. Consequences to what information we share. And it’s not just for ourselves. Part of being a reporter is not just knowing when to put out information, it’s knowing when not to.”_

A cold feeling of dread climbed up Alya’s spine. She…she hadn’t even considered…

_“Which brings us to the third incident, an interview with a student by the name of Lila Rossi. Miss Rossi is the daughter of a diplomat and a frequent traveler. To the blogger’s credit, the interview was made with the student’s permission. But that doesn’t change the fact that the interview consisted almost entirely of lies.”_

If she thought her heart was in her stomach before, it had surely dropped to her knees now as she watched how they systematically disproved every single one of Lila’s claims through contradictions in her own story, contradictions when comparing to her other stories, and public information that Alya could easily have found had she even tried at any point to look.

And the worst part? After having her site and her work criticized, dissected, and discredited for the world to see, it was hearing that one line. That last thing before she couldn’t take anymore and exited the web seminar, tossing the laptop to the other side of the room she had been holed up in. That same line she had previously told Marinette when she was still so sure of herself. The one thing she hadn’t done when it came to her stance on that very issue.

_“A good journalist always checks their sources.”_


	3. Rossi

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> People asked: What about the mother? What about diplomatic immunity?
> 
> Lila thought she was protected. She never considered how her mother might react.

* * *

“I will waive any immunity.”

Lila gaped in horror.

It was bad enough being caught. Even worse for it to happen so publicly. And with her mother and Principal and classmates and _Ladybug_ of all people there. But this…

She gaped up in shock.

“You…you can’t mean that!”

Her mother met her gaze with a full on glare. She would not be deterred.

“Mama! You can’t mean that!” Lila shouted in horror.

“You LIED to me.” Mrs. Rossi was seething. “You’ve been skipping school. You’ve been keeping the Principal from reaching me.”

“That was just—”

“For MONTHS, Lila!” Mrs. Rossi yelled, making everyone jump. “I’ve been living in fear of any akuma attack under the belief that the city’s heroes haven’t been doing a thing to protect anyone—that any day could be my last or your last and that one day I would come home and find you dead or gone or _turned into a pumpkin!_”

Damocles coughed, but held himself back. No one else dared to speak or try to correct her. She had more than earned this.

“And then when I finally WAS caught up in an incident—not even by an akuma, mind you—it was the very hero you called incompetent who saved me! And guess what she had to say about _you_?”

For once, Lila appeared worried. “Mama, whatever she said, it wasn’t true! Ladybug has always had it out for me! She yelled at me in public and—”

“If you were being so stupid as to put a giant target on your back by openly claiming to be best friends with a superhero, I would yell at you, too! What were you even thinking?!”

“If you would just let me tell my side of the story!”

“You already have!” Her mother retorted, much to Lila’s surprise. Her horror only grew as she watched her mother pull out her phone and open the web browser to a very familiar website. “_Your side_ of the story was posted to the Ladyblog for all of the world to see!”

“It was just—”

“It wasn’t just anything except you putting yourself in DANGER, Lila! Can you even understand WHY I’m upset?!” Her mother clenched her eyes shut, trying to force back tears of frustration. “All the things you’ve done! Do you have the slightest idea?”

“But she—”

She shut that down immediately and wouldn’t even give Lila a chance to speak. “Has gone well out of her way to save you no less than three times now! And now I find out not only that they happened, but that each of which were apparently your own doing in the first place. As it stands, you’re quite lucky that the truancy is the only matter you’re officially being brought up on, and I’m the one having to pay for that as it is.”

Lila’s eyes narrowed in rage. “You’re not paying for anything!”

Not enough. Not yet.

Out of all people, her mother should have been on her side. She should have listened to her. Been EASY to fool! She had been all these months.

And now of all times to revoke the last shred of Lila’s protection?

Her own mother betraying her? For strangers? For her _enemy?_

She would not stand for this.

Lila saw red and flew at her mother in a rage. The woman jerked back in surprise as her own daughter charged at her.

She hadn’t been thinking. Otherwise she would have remembered that her enemy was right there and had been the whole time, and was in easy position to grab her to prevent her from causing any harm.

The next thing Lila knew, she had been slammed to the ground with the weight of another body on top of her, keeping her body pinned and her arms in a vice grip. Despite her struggles and screams, she was completely incapable of further movement.

She glared up. And of course it was her.

_That damned Ladybug!_

“My word! Mrs. Rossi, are you all right?” Damocles asked. Stupid question, as her daughter HAD just tried to attack her so of course she wasn’t all right!

But the woman—not her mother, HER mother would have defended her!—nodded, looking pale and disturbed.

“I…I’m fine.” She replied, albeit shaken.

“It seems we’ll have more than just truancy to bring her up on.” Chat Noir said with a glare at the prone girl.

“Yes. That was clearly attempted assault just now.” The principal agreed.

“We need to call the police.” Ladybug instructed, still keeping Lila pinned. “This has gone too far.”

Lila froze, eyes wide in horror as she realized what she had just done. And that she had done it in front of witnesses.

“No! No, wait! You know I didn’t mean it! I was just mad! I didn’t mean it! Mama! MAMA!”

But her mother wouldn’t even look at her. She turned her back on Lila...either in disgust or shame, she didn’t know. But her mother refused to look at her. Refused to even acknowledge her poor daughter’s cries.

And like a final nail in the coffin. _Her own mother…_

“Yes. That would be best.”

Lila clenched her fists in anger. It was all she could do in the wake of this betrayal.

What a horrible mother.


	4. Bustier

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bustier's class can't have been her first one. And her stance on bullying and conflict among students is bound to cause problems.

* * *

  
“Today, class, I’ve asked a special guest to come speak to you!” Bustier greeted them all with a smile. She gestured to the woman next to her, a young adult they hadn’t seen before. She seemed a bit nervous awkward, but was dressed professionally and tried to appear confident.

Bustier clasped her hands together.

“Vivienne is a former student of mine from a few years back. She going to talk to us about positive examples and appropriate behavior in the classroom.”

Marinette slumped in her seat, already knowing what this was about and just whom this lecture was meant for. Bustier’s frequent looks at Marinette weren’t even necessary. The fact that several of the other students shot glances back to her made it clear they knew as well.

Apparently Bustier’s lectures to Marinette about taking the high road and helping her classmates weren’t enough anymore. Now it just felt like she was making a spectacle to prove a point.

The woman, Vivienne, looked to Bustier in confusion.

“I thought I was supposed to give a lecture about preparation for the future?”

“Well certainly.” Bustier agreed, smiling brightly and indulgently. “And about how a good future for everyone can be started by setting an appropriate example in the here and now.”

Several of the students around her nodded. Lila sent a smug look back at her. Marinette merely wanted to crawl under her desk.

The woman stared at Bustier in open-mouthed surprise.

“Are you joking?”

Bustier appeared startled. “I’m sorry?”

“Are you actually joking? Did you mean to tell me you brought me here. All this way. On a weekday. To give a lecture to students about your downright toxic classroom habits?”

Everyone’s eyes widened. Their mouths opened. Because…no one just talked to Bustier like that. She was a teacher! And she was so nice!

Bustier herself was frozen in shock.

“Excuse me?”

“No. No. You’re right. You had me come to give a speech to your class. Fine. I’m going to talk to them.”

She cleared her throat and turned to the class.

“Listen to me. All of you, but especially you in the back because it seems you are Bustier’s target of the year.” She said, looking around to everyone in the room though her eyes remained mostly on Marinette. “You have the right to feel angry when you are wronged. You have the right to be upset when someone hurts you. You have every right to not forgive the one who does it. It is not your fault when someone does wrong. It is not your responsibility for someone else’s choices. You are under NO obligation—ABSOLUTELY NONE to make the person hurting you feel better about it! And at some point, you need to consider what is best for yourself and your life, even if it means cutting people out of it and letting them face the consequences of their actions.”

“What are you doing?” Bustier demanded, outraged.

“Telling them the truth.” Vivienne stated flatly. “It’s the least I could do after what you did to me and my class thanks to your ‘approach’.”  
  


“Are you really holding a grudge over old classroom squabbles?” Bustier asked in a way that sounded chiding.

”It was bullying. Call it what it is.” Vivienne bit back.

“Things had improved. You were a great example for your classmates!” Bustier bemoaned, sounding so heavily disappointed and as if Vivienne was simply a misbehaving student.

But she was not a student anymore. She was a woman. And she was not taking this.

“No, I was their stepping stone and in some cases, their punching bag. And look how well that turned out! I’m STILL in therapy because of you!”

Bustier gaped in horror.

“Yeah, turns out that constantly pushing myself to take on the burden for everyone else’s choices isn’t actually healthy! Either for me OR anyone else.” Vivienne huffed. “And I have you to blame for a huge part of that.”

She pointed at Bustier in outrage.

“Because of you and your _lessons_, I lost my ability to be assertive. I became passive to the point of being a doormat, and it’s something that STILL affects me today! Because under YOUR guidance, I was taught that other people’s behaviors were MY fault. That if someone was being cruel or hurting me, it was because I wasn’t trying hard enough. That it was MY obligation to make bad people better rather than their own. And that if I tried to speak up for myself, I was the one in the wrong. Especially when you dragged my parents into things and portrayed the entire mess like it was _my_ fault for not being okay with my treatment instead of the more valid concern over how I was being treated.”

“Now now, you’re over-exaggerating.” Bustier argued in that annoyingly placating tone.

“You made it MY job to try and better people who didn’t WANT to be better." She exclaimed, furious. "I was thirteen! I was a student in your care! How was that supposed to be MY job? My only job was supposed to be to learn, and because of you, I’ve learned all the wrong lessons!”

She rubbed her face, frustrated and exasperated and just done with this whole thing.

“I don’t know what’s healthy or not. I don’t know when I’m being selfish or when I’m supposed to let something go. I still freeze up when dealing with people because even years later, I still have your voice ringing in my head about how I need to be ‘the better person’ regardless of whether I actually CAN.”

She stopped and took a breath. Then turned on Bustier, appearing truly angry with the woman.

“You pushed me to the point of self-destruction and said that was love.”

“I’m sorry that you apparently had a rough time of things,” Bustier fumbled. “But I can’t be held responsible for how every student turns out.”

_“THEN YOU SHOULDN’T HAVE BECOME A TEACHER!”_

Bustier reared back as if struck by a physical blow.

Vivienne breathed deeply, trying to get herself back under control.

“You had a position of power and authority over me. And you used it to push your responsibility on me. To push the responsibility for EVERYONE in that class on me. On top of my own schoolwork. My own issues. My own responsibilities. I had to deal with yours and everyone else’s. Their well being. Their futures. Their selfish little wants and requests I didn’t have time or energy for but was still expected to fulfill. All of that. _On me._ And now you’ve even gone so far as to bring me here to advocate for you doing the same thing to someone else? And you don’t see _anything_ wrong with that?”

Vivienne gestured to her chest, agitated and hurt and just…finally letting years worth of frustration out.

“Doing what you did? Doing things the way you did? You put an unreasonable burden on a child. All in the name of being a ‘good example’ for how other people should be. And guess what? The only thing being a ‘good example’ accomplished was showing people what to expect from others rather than anything they should expect from themselves.”

She glared at Bustier.

“I did some reading on psychology after leaving your class. Turns out the thing you missed about modeling is that it’s the ADULTS who are supposed to model for their kids, not other kids under their care and especially NOT the ones being victimized.”

Bustier forced herself to speak. “But…everyone deserves a chance.”

“You have students that struggle. It’s common. They need extra care. That’s understandable.” Vivienne agreed. “The problem is that instead of being the teacher you are supposed to be and giving them that care yourself, you instead push that responsibility on your other students when it should never have been their responsibility in the first place!”

“They can’t change and do better if everyone is expecting them to fail.” Bustier reasoned.

“Maybe so, but they’re certainly not going to change if they don’t see a reason they should. Giving bullies a free pass and then lecturing their victims on ‘being the bigger person’ after they’ve been hurt because of the bullying is NOT going to motivate the bully to change anymore than it’s going to motivate the victims to keep trying! Was it any wonder so many of your students just gave up?”

Bustier’s eyes widened in shock.

“What?”

“Yeah, it turns out that I’m not the only student who left your class with problems down the line. Big surprise, but being reprimanded for feeling hurt and being told that their feelings are less important than those of the ones harming them isn’t exactly motivation to keep going out of their way to do their best. Not in grades, which unsurprisingly fell amongst students in your class by the final year. Not in activities, which—surprise surprise! Your students stopped being invested in because you kept pushing for everyone else to work twice as hard for something that you were letting other students get full benefits of with nowhere near the same effort! Was it any wonder that I was the only one you were able to browbeat into doing anything by the end? It was because everyone else got disillusioned and stopped trying! Because you rewarded the bad students and admonished the good students if they took issue with that. They weren’t blind! They know favoritism when they see it!”

The class was staring. Unsure what to say. Or if they even should speak.

“Oh, and on the subject of favoritism. You surely remember Candace—my bully whose behavior you defended and minimized all throughout our years in your class? Yeah, she’s in jail. _Again._ For causing a scene in a public setting. _Again._ And even assaulting police, which is actually a new one for her this time around. But it’s her standard behavior. It’s all she knows how to do. Because you and people like you catered to her tantrums and brattish behavior, gave her whatever she wanted, and admonished anyone who complained about how she treated them.”

“Well…” Bustier simpered. “Treating her cruelly isn’t changing her now, is it?”

“Because she’s an adult used to getting her way!” Vivienne exclaimed. “The time to teach her better was when she was young. It was when she was still a student under YOUR care! Instead, you solidified her into the messed up adult she is today! And speaking of messed up adults, how about dear old Henrik? You remember him?”

“He…he was…a perfect student…” Bustier muttered, uncertain and wary.

“Sure was. Your model student. He sure road your high horse all throughout school and even all the way to his own wedding to Delia—your OTHER favorite student to coddle. You must have been so _proud_ of how that turned out. And even after she’s cheated on him. Among other things. He’d be the picture of domestic violence at this point…you know…if he could actually acknowledge that the relationship is even abusive.”

She sighed.

“But he still insists he can ‘change her’. That he can ‘help her be better’. And some other reasons about ‘make a bad person be good’ that sounds like the sort of tripe you fed him." She shook her head, disgusted. "You know, back then most of us just thought he was a wannabe stud who liked having girls hanging all over him. It never occurred to us that he was uncomfortable and just didn’t know how to ask them to stop.”

Several of the students gasped in shock. Adrien in particular appeared uncomfortable, like the story was a point for him in particular. Remembering the way Chloe and Lila hung off him, Marinette had to wonder if Adrien and this Henrik didn’t have a few concerning things in common.

Vivienne, however, continued. And even started to tick off on her fingers. “Then there are all the others. Elodie joined the police force and is so caught up in her own brand of ‘justice’ that she jumps into things without thinking and a number of her arrests ended up going free regardless of the charge due to her not following procedure. Arthur was always the sort to ‘go with the flow’ rather than stand up for anything, so he ‘went with the flow’ all the way to a strip club where he spends his nights, still waiting on some new job opportunity Delia promised him years ago. Kent and Morgan were arrested for embezzlement of some charity’s funds. Michael works at a repair shop, so he has a steady job at least, though that's little consolation given his poor health. Sam’s charged for property destruction from illegal street racing. Again. Vincent is still claiming some close relationship with Jagged Stone that I don’t even want to think about, especially given how many restraining orders the guy must have against him by this point. Randall died from drug overdose last year, otherwise I’m sure you would have called him up instead of me.”

Everyone gaped at her in growing horror. Alya and Max both seemed to be looking at their phones, only to wince or appear more agitated with whatever they found—Marinette assumed it was likely proof of Vivienne’s claims. Bustier looked almost ready to faint at the news of what’s become of her former students.

Vivienne just tapped her chin.

“And you know, now that I think about it, it makes sense that you called me out of everyone to come lecture your class because I think I’m probably the only former student who's NOT a complete wreck—if only because I’m just a few steps away from it thanks to therapy.”

She sneered at Bustier in downright disgust.

“All these people you said it was my job to save. All of them—every single one of them fell apart when I finally gave up. Though they were admittedly barely hanging on as it was while they still had me to dump on and fix things for them. And I’m pretty sure that I could have been a millionaire by now if I’d held firm on charging people for the things they wanted from me instead of bowing to your insistence on doing things for people for free to be ‘nice’. Or, you know…NOT wasting my time and giving up on my own opportunities to pull everyone else out of the fires they kept starting.”

Feeling the weight of everyone’s gazes on her, Bustier spoke up to attempt to defend herself.

“To make a healthy classroom—”

“Your classroom isn’t healthy!” Vivienne shouted. And it was only now that Marinette realized there was a growing number of people hovering outside the door and listening in. “It says something that we have a magical emotion-based terrorist running around and his most frequent targets other than a guy obsessed with pigeons have been your students! Hell, in the past year the majority of akuma attacks have all been from this very class! If I didn’t already know you were doing this all along, I would think you were grooming these kids to be taken by Hawk Moth!“

“They’re not…_that_ bad…” Bustier weakly defended.

“One of your students is the girl who tried to **CRASH A TRAIN!** And it didn’t take me all of five minutes after entering to see you catering to what can only be a chronic liar. That's not even getting into her being the one in the report from the fire department about her interfering with the heroes during an akuma attack by faking an injury.”

Lila immediately started the waterworks. “How could you say that about me?”

“Actually, I hadn’t pointed you out. But thanks for doing it yourself, and while we’re on the subject, GOOGLE. Five minutes is more than enough to debunk your stories. Anyone could do it if they bothered to. Which might have gone a long way in preventing the classroom from becoming toxic, _Bustier_, if you had helped to develop your students’ critical thinking skills so they could figure things out for themselves instead of demanding they become doormats to make other people ‘feel better’.”

“I—I—” Bustier looked almost ready to cry.

“Couldn’t be bothered to tell them they’re being lied to?” Vivienne asked, sarcastically.

“She has a condition! I didn’t want to impair her ability to make friends!” Bustier exclaimed, making the class stare at her in growing horror. Others turned on Lila in outrage at the confirmation. Lila in turn started to shrink in on herself, realizing that this had not been the best time to draw attention.

“So you protect one student by letting the rest be used and manipulated. It’s not like that can go wrong! Just ask Henrik…as soon as he gets out of the hospital.”

One student—Rose—actually raised her hand. “What…what happened to Henrik?”

“Officially, food poisoning.” Vivienne replied. “Unofficially, Delia only married him because he’s rich and good as arm candy, but she only needs him alive for one of those two things and his moral righteousness makes him less appealing as the latter.”

Bustier wobbled, her strength giving out. She quickly made it to her chair and almost fell onto it as the sheer magnitude of what was happening hit her.

“But…I don’t understand. It can’t be me. I’m…I’m a good teacher…”

“No.” Vivienne interrupted. “You’re a _nice_ teacher. At least to certain students. For everyone else, you taught pretty words and preached about love and kindness to help build up a rose-tinted view of the world and the people in it. It’s no wonder nobody knew how to deal afterwards.”

“But…it can’t be my fault.” She insisted. “I’m only one influence! There are parents! Guardians!”

Yeah, no. Vivienne was not letting her pass the blame.

“Whom YOU spoke with. Whom YOU influenced with your position to put focus on the wrong problems—not what needed to be addressed but what you wanted to make your classroom easier for you. Parents don’t know what their kids are doing during school hours other than what they’re told is happening. And when they’re told that their kid is ‘problematic’ or ‘causing conflict’ or ‘not a team player’ but they’re not being told WHY? Or not being told that their kid is being mistreated, bullied, or outright assaulted? And those parents then turn on the kids?”

She shrugged.

“Honestly, what were we supposed to think?”

Bustier shook her head, now crying.

“I can’t fix everything!”

Vivienne stared, solemnly.

“But you could have helped. You just…choose not to.”

She looked back to the class.

“Don’t trust blindly. Stand up for yourself without pushing on others. Remember that you are allowed to have limits. And sometimes…” Her eyes fell back on Marinette. “Sometimes, it’s better to just cut out the weeds than hope flowers grow.”

With that, she turned and left the classroom, the various students and faculty listening in parting before her.

It was cold outside. Almost matching the feeling in her chest.

And yet, she let out a sigh.

“Now that’s the closure I’ve been looking for.”

And she carried on.


	5. Bustier Continuation

* * *

From her seat in the back, Marinette suddenly stood. Without a word, she grabbed her bags and headed for the door.

“Marinette? Where are you going?” Bustier questioned, still shaken from the previous altercation.

“I’m going home.” Marinette replied. “I’m going to have a long talk with my parents about this class that I should have had with them a good while ago, and then we’re going to look at other options.”

Most of the class gasped.

Alya stood. “Come on, girl! You’re not going to let this make you leave, are you?”

“Marinette, is that really necessary?” Bustier asked. She was scared. She was hurt. And now her current star student was taking her former pupil’s claims as reason to abandon her class.

“Yes, I think it is.” She said, forcing herself to not look at any of them. She knew she would back down if she did.

This once, she had to hold her ground.

“It was one thing when I thought it was just me. That I was the one in the wrong because I was the only one being bothered by Chloe’s bullying and Lila’s lies. That it was okay when Chloe stole my things or when Lila lies about me. That it was no big deal because you didn’t see the need to correct them. Because you knew but did nothing to help me.”

She took a breath.

“You are my teacher. If you didn’t think any of it was enough of a problem to speak up about, then clearly it was just me being too sensitive, right?”

She clutched her bag to her chest.

“But it’s not just me. And it’s not okay. And I don’t want to lie to myself anymore by trying to say it is.”

As if releasing a burden, her back straightened and her head lifted.

“I deserve support. I deserve a healthy classroom environment. I deserve a teacher who will reprimand me when I do wrong but defend me when I’m right. And I can’t get that from an instructor who would pull me aside to lecture me about a bully’s feelings while also choosing to openly accuse me of things she should know I didn’t do based solely on the word of someone she should know is a liar.”

She took a breath.

“And I don’t want to wait until I break down and end up as miserable as…as _that_ to finally do something about it.”

“Marinette!”

“I’m going home.”

The class watched in disbelief as she walked out the door. The observers outside the room made way for her. A couple whispered encouragement to her as she passed. One even patted her on the back. She said nothing in response, feeling numb until she finally exited the building.

Marinette had hoped to run into Vivienne, but it seemed the woman wanted to put as much distance between herself and Bustier as possible. Not that Marinette blamed her. By the time Marinette had made it outside, she was long gone. 

She could have tried to look for her, but…well…priorities. She had parents to talk to. And then the Principal. Maybe even the school board if some of Vivienne’s statements were true.

But…would any of them believe her?

“Trust yourself, Marinette.” Tikki told her reassuringly, nuzzling her fingers from her hiding place in her bag. “If you can take being Ladybug, you can do this.”

She smiled back.

And headed home.


End file.
